What is Readability? Why Should Content Editors Care About It

As part of the continuous digitization of user journeys, many organizations have implemented ways to reduce face-to-face contact and calls. By making information and processes available online, organizations can cut back on costs associated with these types of interactions.

What is Readability?

Readability is about making content clear and easy to understand. In relation to a website, focusing on readability increases the chance that your target audience will actually read and interact with the content you publish. For this reason, readability should be a natural part of your content management.

So, let’s say that you have formulated a clear communications strategy and your content plan is all in place. Without checking the readability of your content, all of your hard work and planning could go to waste. Here are three reasons why readability should be a focus for content editors:

2. Readability is about Web Accessibility

By not addressing the readability of your content, you could be actively discriminating against users with learning disabilities. In contrast to other online readers, some users will read words letter for letter – making long words and long sentences a challenge.

3. Online Reading is Different

Regardless of literacy level, people read differently online than they do when reading printed text. Studies have shown that people scan web pages and only read about 18% of what’s on the page. The same studies say if you convert print text to the web, you should reduce content by about 50%.

Web users don’t even necessarily read from the top to bottom or word for word. This is because they are looking for specific information or trying to complete a task and can get impatient if the content is too wordy.

As a content editor, it’s not enough to copy and paste text from one format to another. In order to make sure that your website is understandable and accessible to all users, you must consider how the text is formulated and what words you’re using.

Interestingly, using long words can result in readers missing shorter words that follow them, which can greatly affect text interpretation. Using shorter words and shorter sentences will present content in a much more user-friendly way and will suit the way they approach text on a website better.

It is also important to remember that writing clearly for the web is a skill. Writing well on paper does not necessarily mean that someone communicates well online. By ensuring content editors are involved in the production of online content, they can help reduce jargon and other poor readability elements.

Implementing Readability on Your Website

So we’ve established that readability is vital to your digital content process, but how do you implement it? Download our Readability Checklist to learn how to write readable content and keep it on hand as a helpful reminder every time you're writing new content!